Class
The Science of Mindfulness: A Research-Based Path to Well-Being
$49.99
At a Glance:
- In-depth Instruction; over 853 mins
- On-demand video access anytime
- Bonus downloadable PDF resources
- Access to class Q&A
Item:
W01614E
Expand your mind, heal your body, and forge new possibilities for living! Join Professor Ronald D. Siegel, Psy.D., and discover how the practice of mindfulness can radically transform the mind, the heart, and your experiences of everyday life.
Begin by exploring the nature of mindfulness practice as a means of developing awareness with acceptance of our present experience.
Discover how our brains are evolutionarily predisposed to psychological distress. Learn about the human "negativity bias" and how our tendency to both anticipate and avoid pain leads to problems.
Mindfulness, like physical fitness, must be developed through regular and sustained practice. In this next lesson, find out how to cultivate mindfulness during daily activities such as bathing or driving.
With reference to both cognitive science and traditional Buddhist thought, observe how the human mind creates the illusory sense of a "separate" self, and how this conception of separateness is itself the cause of suffering.
Learn how mindfulness practice works toward many of the same goals as psychotherapy. Explore how the ultimate aim of traditional mindfulness practice diverges from earlier Western psychology in proposing a more radical path to psychological, emotional, and spiritual freedom.
See how mindfulness practices train us to embrace our moment-to-moment experience. Then learn how compassion for oneself is associated with virtually every desirable psychological outcome.
See how mindfulness practices train us to embrace our moment-to-moment experience. Then learn how compassion for oneself is associated with virtually every desirable psychological outcome.
In choosing mindfulness practices for your own life, consider seven different criteria or questions to ask, such as which mindfulness skills to emphasize; whether to favor secular or religious approaches.
This lesson takes a thorough look at mindfulness and brain function. Review studies that show how mindfulness practice activates areas of the brain that regulate emotions, integrate thoughts and feelings, increase empathy, and facilitate learning and memory.
Explore how mindfulness and compassion practices deepen connection and communication with others, and also cultivate an awareness of "interbeing," or our connection to the larger world.
Observe how mindfulness training helps us enter a child's world through developing spontaneity and sensitivity, as well as fostering effective responses to misbehavior.
Observe how mindfulness changes our relationship with thoughts, moods, and feelings, allowing us to see them as transient events.
Consider how we typically cope with worry and anxiety by distracting ourselves, and how mindfulness training can free us from anxiety through directly facing our fears while grounded in the present moment.
See how mindfulness practice offers an effective approach to dealing with physical pain, through changing our relationship to both the symptom and to pain-related thinking.
Review astonishing data on the effectiveness of placebos in medical treatment, and learn how mindfulness practice can aid in treating conditions such as insomnia, sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal problems and illness anxiety.
Investigate the nature of compulsive behaviors and the psychological patterns that keep them in place. Discover how mindful awareness can dismantle these patterns, allowing us to be with changing waves of feelings and urges without having to act on them.
Study how trauma affects the mind, and how the tendency to suppress traumatic experiences leads to painful symptoms and unhealthy behavior.
Study the approaches and benefits of pioneering programs such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and learn additional techniques that can deepen any mindfulness practice.
Examine findings from recent studies showing that experienced meditators can quickly step out of the self-preoccupied thought stream, with significant benefits for their ability to deal with pain and to cultivate wellness.
Consider how mindfulness practices offer a different way of relating to the realities of aging, sickness, and death itself, and how cultivating deep attention to the present moment allows us to freely enjoy all the stages of life.
Examine current experimental models for studying wisdom, and discover the key elements of wisdom they identify. Review eight ways that mindfulness practices can help us to develop wisdom.
Understand the nature of enlightenment in practical terms. Prof. Siegel talks about various pitfalls and challenges people encounter along the path including spiritual materialism, foundations for awareness, and interpersonal contexts.
Recent research suggests a bilateral relationship between ethics and well-being. Consider five ethical precepts, and use them as tools of inquiry to observe which actions lead to suffering for ourselves and others.
Finally, learn about the new field of positive psychology, and how mindfulness practices foster empirically-supported paths to happiness.
Practice meditation with a focus on breath.
Turn your meditation to focus on loving kindness.
Become the mountain in your meditation.
Meditate with a partner.
Conquer your fears with this meditation.
Ronald D. Siegel
Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is an assistant clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance, where he has taught for more than 30 years, and an adjunct clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Siegel is a longtime student of mindfulness practices, and serves on the board of directors and faculty of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. He teaches internationally about mindfulness and its application to psychotherapy and other fields, has worked for many years in community mental health, and maintains a private clinical practice in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
The Science of Mindfulness - Course Guidebook
Bonus Materials available for download after purchase.
